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Submitted by mimi 12/08/08 12:52 AM GMT
I present you yet another artist, our 36th, to shine in the bright Artist Spotlight.
Winning this honor by popular vote, I present to you our own cynlee.
Please take some time to stop by her large,varied gallery and leave congratulatory words!
Naturally, I am delighted to be selected as this month's featured artist and wish to especially thank those who presented my name for consideration. I am deeply honored by your thoughtfulness towards me and your approval of my images. Mimi suggested some things that I could include in a short bio so you could know a tad more about me, so for starters, my full name is Cindy Maurer, resident of Wales, MA, population 1500, for the last 25 years.
I have been blessed with five wonderful children, Roma, Colin, Aaron, Maryam and Jamila, ages 39-19 and a very patient, understanding husband, Roy. My three youngest children were home schooled and as part of their (and our) education, Roy and I decided to take them abroad to see other parts of the world. So, in 2002, we traveled to the UK and parts of Wales, (the country) lol. In 2004, we visited Morocco with stop overs in Amsterdam where I got to see some of the original works of my favorite artist, Jan Ver Meer. Then in 2005, we all took a trip to Turkey.
Naturally a digital camera became a necessary travel accessory and we bought a 2 MP Fuji. By the Turkey trip, I had acquired a 4 MP Kodak Easyshare camera and a fondness for 'picture taking'. I am a Medical Technologist by profession and in 2006, when the computer system in our hospital was upgraded to a windows based OS, I went on the Internet to find more wallpapers for the 14 monitors in the laboratory. That's how I discovered Caedes' wonderful web site. I downloaded some images and soon others were asking where I had found those beautiful desktop wallpapers and when I told them, they started downloading them too. All the wallpapers on our monitors are now harvested images from Caedes.net. Having found this wonderful venue for sharing photos from our trips as well as other scenes and subjects, I was inspired to pursue photography more earnestly.
I have always been interested in light, color theory and optics, so photography was the natural niche into which I would settle. I have pursued many other art forms over the years, like sewing, gardening and needlework and taken classes in watercolor, pen and ink, and illustration, (Should I mention the belly dancing and massage classes too?) lol, but nothing quite held my interest like photography.
Wanting to learn more and have more control of the process of 'picture taking', I naturally bought my first DSLR, a Canon XT with the kit lens. That was enough for awhile and I acquired a Sigma 17-70mm telephoto and a Sigma 70-300mm telephoto, both of which I had researched and found to be good lenses for reasonable prices. I became enamored of the Canon 40D when it was released and got such a good deal with the 28-135mm lens that came with it, that I bought it. Since then, I have also gotten a Tamron 90mm macro lens and a Canon 70-200mm f4 lens with IS, which I like very much. I use PaintShopProX, PSCS3, Photofiltre and most recently Canon's Digital Professional Photographer, as recommended by Paul Gerritsen. I shoot mostly in RAW because I like the control it affords me in the post work.
My fondness for Caedes website is mostly derived from the communication and interaction of the members. I can talk about my favorite subject, photography, with folks from the UK, Sweden, Holland, Germany, Hungary, India, NZ, Australia, France, Canada, S. Africa, Turkey etc. as well as with folks from the Midwest, the South, the North West, and the East and West coasts of the US. I enjoy it when someone gives me a straightforward, honest critique of something I post because that is how I will learn to improve. I can be too subjective in viewing my own images and need other eyes to help me see what I may have failed to see.
I have met many wonderful people on the site and though I would like to name them all, for the sake of brevity I cannot, but I hope they know that I appreciate these friendships along with their observations, comments and advice on my posts and that I derive much pleasure or discover something new about the world in viewing their posts.
I had a wonderful time in DC meeting up with Jen, Hilda, PJ and Mary. It was great to see the faces behind the avies and share our common interest.
My other hobby is reading. I read mostly non-fiction; books about religion, natural healing, herbs and medicinal plants and, of course, photography!
I come here also to get new ideas from the works of those I aspire to emulate. I want to learn new techniques and more about camera settings, etc. And I owe a great deal of thanks to those who have already helped me on this learning journey, members and moderators both.
As to my choice of my own favorite photo, I'd pick Queen of the Garden, because it was taken in one of those serendipitous moments and it was shot with the 4MP Kodak set to macro. Was I brief enough? Lol Thanks so much to all of you and I look forward to seeing YOU here next month!
-Cindy
